1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to engine couplers, specifically couplers used to attach a engine flywheel to a U-joint type driveline.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Engine driven devices were historically attached to an engine with a solid metal adapter. These solid adapters resulted in the transmission of damaging forces to the engine and attached driven device. This problem promoted various efforts to isolate and/or absorb the forces before they transmitted to the equipment. Inventors created several types of coupling devices designed to absorb these forces with an elastic component built within the coupling device. U.S. Pat. No. 3,988,907 (1976) discloses a rubber & fabric combination which claims to transmit torque while controlling unwanted forces, however this device is limited to the strength of the fabric and the limitations of the maximum diameter which would be required to manage high torque engines. Additionally this device requires the use of additional components to adapt to the desired object and therefore results in a greater number of components for potential failure while adding additional weight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,813,909 (1989) claims to elastically couple two rotating devices but is very complex in design and results in a excessively expensive manufacturing process and is only effective for the specific rotating device for which it is designed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,351,167 (1982) uses the technology of the old metal spring type couplers and substitutes rubber and fluid for the metal springs. This design is to complex and has limited applications based on the design and limited force handling capability. U.S. Pat. No. 4,634,391 (1987) manages the torsional forces from the engine, but has limited application specific to a stern drive shaft. Additionally the encapsulated elastomeric element will fail to convert the drive torque to the stern drive with the application of a high torque output engine and will be permanently damaged as a result of this failure. Additional devices in the industry reveal no designs capable of handling high torque applications without the use of multiple massive adapters at a very high manufacturing cost even in the most standard of applications. Additionally, these devices using multiple adapters result in undesired excessive reciprocating mass.